A/N: I know it's been forever and I'm really sorry, school has been insane and I've been having problems with ff. This chapters not not very long and it's definately not my best writing but it'll do.
Disclaimer: As far as I know Ally Carter still owns the copyright and I don't.
Last chapter recap: So the gang broke into a rich dudes house and interrogated him but then they ran into some trouble that lead to Cam and Bex jumping out of the window. Zach and Grant had to go back through the basement which is way more dangerous and the girls don't know where they are. Zach found out about his mom trying to kill Cammie but they were sort of close to dying so he couldn't do anything. Cam's mom went back to the United States and took the two idiots with her and Grant likes Glee music. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything but that's what you missed if you don't remember last chapter. This last chapter recap was inspired by Glee!
The life of a spy appeals to many people for different reasons. Some envision a life of glitz and glam. They think about the money they can make, the places they will see, and the importance they will feel. Those are usually the spies who break down emotionally. Often times it happens when they realize the danger they will constantly be in, the secrets they will have to keep, the relationships they will damage, and the pain they will cause. Whether you like it or not you have to do your job. Sometimes that means kidnapping people and other times it means shooting them but you do it knowing that you are taking away some ones kid, husband, mother, etc. The spy life isn't easy, only those who are in it because they believe in what they do will make it through. It's not enough to like the benefits. It's not enough to want the thrill. You have to be careful, never becoming greedy, and remain down to earth; remembering that playing a socialite in your last mission doesn't guarantee you won't pretend to be a part of the drug community in Mexico City in the hopes of saving innocent reporters and their families from being killed in your next one. Loving the thrill is great but you can't be impatient, the action lasts hours, the waiting can last weeks. If you truly want to be a spy you should want to try and save peoples lives no matter how hopeless or dangerous the situation appears. You have to feel the same duty to your country as the soldiers do, but never expect anything in return, because no one can know who you are. And above all else you have to have the right balance between trust and skepticism. Between instincts and logic. No matter how hard it is you have to be patient. Trust your partners and trust yourselves.
There are four main ways to handle the pressure of waiting and every one has to figure out what works best for them. Some people need to do something physical like run 2 miles or punch the wall (before trying the latter please, please remember, the wall always wins.) Others need to focus on something else. They do anything to occupy themselves and tend to ramble, eat, watch TV, sew, read, etc. Some are very optimistic, they often come up with good things about waiting or good things that could be causing the wait. On the other side you have the pessimistic waiters. Those are the people who always assume the worst. Your dad's not home when he said he would be? He was in a car accident and had to be taken via helicopter to the hospital where he is now in a coma and they can't contact you because all of his information was burned when the car blew up.
I don't know which one works best. I guess it depends on the person and the situation but I do know this: whether you're waiting for shoes to go on sale or waiting to see if your friends made it out alive, waiting. Always. Sucks.
That morning is a blur to me. I remember it still being dark when we got back. I remember it smelling the burnt bread we had left in the toaster before leaving. It was black but cold from sitting out for hours. I remember falling over the back of the couch like I used to when I got frustrated, unable to understand a new topic in school. I remember turning on the TV, seeing two guys get shot and clicking it off again. I remember changing into pajama pants and playing five rounds of spades with Bex. I remember sitting on the couch and telling her everything. I told her about Zach's mom, I told her about the old ladies, and for the first time ever I gave her the blow-by-blow of my fight with Zach three years ago. I guess I fell asleep after that. I don't remember anything else until waking up on the couch. The sun was fully risen, shining brightly through the window without a cloud in sight.
"'Morning pretty, sleep well?" Bex's voice was chipper from the kitchen. I ran my hands through my hair moving it from the left side to the right. I could feel the knots as I ran my hands through my bed head, making it messier than it already was. She stood at the counter top surrounding the sink, making fresh coffee.
"They're still not back." My question came out as more of a statement but I knew I was right as I watched her face fall.
"No," she said quietly as she handed me a mug. "Not yet," she amended. We stepped out onto the balcony and sat down on the white chairs. The breeze was cool and I pulled my blanket tighter around me and wound my fingers around my warm cup again, breathing in the sent of fresh, European coffee. Not everyone realizes it but they taste completely different. I admit I like American coffee better but I swear I could live on European chocolate alone.
"Bex," I started, but she surprised me when she cut in and said,
"I know why you didn't tell me from the beginning and if you don't want me to tell Macey and Liz I won't but if you don't tell them they will be so pissed at you when we get back because there is no way in hell that you can keep this quiet. I know you don't want this to change the mission either but it has to. We can't infiltrate with,"
"Yes, we can," I cut her off continuing before she could protest. "Just think about it for a minute. Somehow she knew I was here. The group knows she's after me and I wouldn't be surprised if they knew that I was here to. I'd be willing to bet she knows why we're here to. She wanted us to find out she was with them, she probably knew we'd get chosen for this mission, or at least I would. Anyone who looked through my track records would know!"
"Cam, are you saying that she's the one who left a tip on the CIA database? That she was the anonymous agent in France who had gotten wind of it?"
"It makes sense doesn't it? If she could see, even just my basic missions, the ones not guarded by fifty different firewalls, she could see that I would at least be put onto the list of options."
"But what if you're wrong Cam? I mean, it's giving her an awful lot of credit and overestimation is just as bad as underestimation."
"She was trained at Gallagher Bex. I'll never be able to consider her a Gallagher Girl, you have to earn your spot there, but she was trained in the same building and if we're going to beat her for good we have to stop thinking like Gallagher Girls and try to play the wholes in the same things we've been taught. And where's the one place Mr. Solomon, and none of the other teachers, said was one of the greatest hiding spots?"
"In her own sanctuary," Bex answered resignedly. "But what if you're wrong Cam? What if this wasn't all an elaborate scheme to get you?"
"But what if I'm right?"
I don't know exactly how long we sat out there. Maybe that's bad for a spy but even we need a break sometimes. The silence wasn't heavy or awkward; it was relaxed in it's own ways and as ironic as it is for the first time in days I felt like I could breathe. At least until the door flew open to reveal a panting Grant, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat, both of his muscular arms gripping the ledge of the door. We both turned at the noise, leaning over to see clearly through the open glass door, not over looking the fact that he was by himself.
"Zach's alive," he stated. "But he's hurt." I put my cup on my armrest and raced into the hall with them to find Zach leaning against the wall his arm covered tightly in a literally blood red cloth. He seemed to barely holding onto consciousness, gripping his right arm with his left hand trying to stench the blood more than Grants shirt was. He was breathing deeply, trying to remain upright but began to slip down the wall anyways.
"Bex, get the bullet wound supplies," Grant told her as he and I both got under Zach and dragged him into the room, lying him on the couch just as he lost consciousness. I moved Zach's hair out of his eyes and slowly undid his bandage, unwrapping the last layer as Bex handed me the supplies. His bleeding hadn't completely finished but it was slow enough that I could clean it. Bex, being Bex, couldn't stop moving. She got our cups from the balcony, arranged cookies from the cupboard on a plate, and even made Grant a cup of coffee that he gratefully accepted from the table he was sitting on. Bex sat on the floor leaning her head back against the couch and closing her eyes as I began to re-wrap Zach's arm in a fresh and sterilized bandage. Bex's eyes stayed closed as she asked the question I didn't have the nerve to:
"What happened?" And so Grant began to explain their half. They'd gotten halfway through the maze when word that robbers had stolen a painting worth millions had gotten down to basement guards. Everyone had freaked.
"It was pure chaos. People running this way and that. It was harder to predict where they would go but it left more holes in the security." They had side stepped a camera but in doing so triggered something else.
"We made it into the woods alright but they were right behind us and knew the land better." We had spent so much time worrying about how to get in and out that we hadn't even thought about the grounds outside the supposed realm of danger. They had taken refuge in a little dam knowing there were to many to fight.
"We stayed for hours, still hearing voices and waited another hour after they had ceased." Thinking the coast was clear they had begun to move out when they had heard some one following them.
"It was a group of teenagers, probably seventeen or eighteen. We had gotten turned around and weren't entirely sure where we were but it was pretty run down, a lot of buildings crumbling, a lot of places where previous fight were evident." The teenagers had been drunk and seemed to be looking for a fight. There were five of them and it had been under control until one of them pulled out a handgun. "I think he was desperate. We hadn't killed any of them, just knocked two of 'em out but I doubt he could tell the difference." He got a shot fired off and it had grazed Zach's arm, barely missing his bone but missing it just the same. He was out as soon as he pulled the trigger but,
"It wasn't quick enough. I choked him 'til he fainted and Zach somehow managed to finish off the other one. We jacked a car, none of them seemed to have an alarm system, and dumped it as soon as we were in easy walking distance here." He'd wrapped it best he could but Zach continued to fade, fast.
"I carried him into the hallway and, well, I guess you know the rest," he finished with an acknowledging nod towards where Zach lay unmoving but breathing.
"We got lucky. If it had gotten his bone," I shivered at the thought. Tissues would heal fairly easily and we could handle all right on our own, but bones were a very different story.
"Yeah," Bex agreed softly, her eyes remaining closed as they had through Grants entire speech. "It should be a pretty quick heal."
A/N: Like I said not my best but it'll do for now. I don't think I can guarantee another update until thanksgiving break because I'm swamped and if I make the basketball team I'll really be needing my weekends to get caught up on everything. My plan right now is to finish this over Christmas break and update when I can until then. I tend to write everything in school I just don't have the time to type it up. In the mean time, review?